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Sub-provincial city |
| Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China |
| Province level |
|---|
| Provinces |
| Autonomous regions |
| Municipalities |
| Special Administrative Regions (SARs) |
| Prefecture level |
| Prefectures Autonomous prefectures |
| Prefecture-level cities Sub-provincial cities |
| Leagues |
| County level |
| Counties Autonomous counties |
| County-level cities Sub-prefecture-level cities |
| City districts |
| Banners Autonomous banners |
| Township level |
| Townships (ethnic) Sumu (ethnic) |
| Towns |
| Subdistricts |
| County districts (defunct) |
A sub-provincial city (Chinese: 副省级城市) (or deputy-provincial city) in the People's Republic of China, is a prefecture-level city that is ruled by a province, but is administered independently in regard to economy and law. The mayor of a sub-provincial city is equal in status to a vice-governor of a province. Its status is below that of municipalities, which are independent and equivalent to provinces, but above other, regular prefecture-level cities, which are completely ruled by their provinces. The original 16 sub-provincial cities were created on February 25, 1994 by the Central Organization Committee out of prefecture-level cities. They are sometimes the capitals of the provinces in which they are located.
Currently, there are 15 sub-provincial cities:1
Chongqing was formerly a sub-provincial city of Sichuan until 1997, when it was made a municipality by splitting it out of Sichuan altogether. Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also has the powers of a sub-provincial city. Additionally, the head of Pudong District of Shanghai, which is a county-level district, is given sub-provincial powers.
Guangzhou, Harbin and Chengdu are the largest sub-provincial cities; each has a population exceeding that of the independent municipality of Tianjin.
The National Standing Committee of Sub-provincial Municipal People's Congresses' Chairmen Joint Conference (全国副省级城市人大常委会主任联席会议) are attended by the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of all sub-provincial cities. It was proposed by the Guangzhou Municipal People's Congress in 1985. The conferences:
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